Helmet with face guarding means



Sept. 30, 1952 J. R. ADAMS HELMET WITH FACE cu Rpngc MEANS Filed Oct. 17, 1950 Joe R. Adams INVENTOR.

BY a I 5m Patented Sept. 3Q, 1952 uairso mm PATENT==OFFICE Application October 17, 1950, Serial No. 190,552

1 Claim.

This invention relates to new and useful improvements and structural refinements in helmets, more particularly helmets of the type commonly used by football players, and the like, and the principal object of the invention is to effectively protect the face of the wearer from possible injury.

The above object is achieved by the provision of a face guarding strap which is attached to the opposite sides of the helmet and extends transversely across the face opening, an important feature of the invention residing in the provision of means for securing the face guarding strap in position, this being achieved in such manner that the face guarding strap does not interfere with the usual chin strap with which the helmet is provided.

Some of the advantages of the invention lie in its simplicity of construction, in its efficient and dependable operation, and in --its adaptability to economical manufacture.

With the above more important objects in view, and such other objects and features as may become apparent as this specification proceeds, the invention consists essentially of the arrangement and construction of parts as illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the invention in use;

Figure 2 is a group perspective view of the face guarding strap and elements for attaching the same to the helmet; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary sectional detail taken substantially on the plane of the line 33 in Figure 1.

Like characters of reference are employed to designate like parts in the specification and throughout the several views.

Referring now to the accompanying drawings in detail, the general reference character Ill designates'a conventional helmet provided with a face opening 12 at the front thereof, the in vention residing in the provision of a face guard which is preferably constructed from transparent plastic material and is in a, form of an arcuate strap l4 having rounded edges as exemplified at IS.

The strap I4 extends transversely and forwardly of the face opening l2 and the end portions of the strap are disposed immediately adjacent the outer surfaces of the opposite sides l8 of the helmet, to which they are secured by pairs of screws 20.

These screws, preferably equipped with countersunk heads, are positioned in countersunk apertures 22 with which the end portions of the strap M are formed, and suitable washers 24 and nuts 26 are provided on the shanks of the screws and are preferably located within the usual lining 28 of the helmet, so that they do not scratch or otherwise injure the face of the wearer.

By virtue of the face guard strap [4, the face of the wearer is effectively protected against injury, and since the helmet l0 usually includes .a chin guard strap 30, means are provided for attaching the latter strap to the helmet without interference with the face guarding strap 14.

To this end, suitable snap fastener members 32 are provided at the opposite sides l8 of the helmet and are disposed in recesses 34 with which the end portions of the face guarding strap M are formed, while the usual buckles 36 at the ends of the chin strap 30 are equipped with 00- acting snap fastener members 38. The latter are secured to the buckles 36 by rivets 40 and suitable tubular spacers 42 are interposed between the snap fastener members 38 and the buckles 36 so that the fastener members 38 may be inserted in the recesses 34 to a suincient extent to facilitate proper engagement thereof with the fastener members 32 on the helmet, as shown in Figure 3. By virtue of this arrangement the chin strap 30 may be applied or removed by simply engaging or disengaging the fastener members 32, 38, this being accomplished without interfering with the face guarding strap [4.

It is believed that the advantages and use of the invention will be thoroughly understood from the foregoing disclosure and accordingly, further description thereof at this point is deemed unnecessary.

While in the foregoing there has been shown and described the preferred embodiment of this invention it is to be understood that minor changes in the details of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is:

In combination with a helmet having a face opening at the front thereof and provided with a pair of snap fastener members adjacent the re spective opposite sides of said opening, a face guard comprising an arcuate strap having end portions thereof secured to opposite side portions of said helmet and extending transversely and forwardly of said opening, end portions of said strap being provided with circular apertures having the respective snap fastener members disposed therein whereby the fastener members are spaced inwardly from the outer surface of said strap, a chin strap disposed below the face guard strap and having its end portions extending over the outer surfaces of the end portions of the face guard strap, and coasting snap fastener members provided on end portions of the chin strap and projecting into said aper, tures for attachment to the respective fastener members on the helmet.

JOE R. ADAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

Number UNITED STATES PATENTS 

